Tag Archives: photoshop

In this week’s show, we are going to discuss many more techniques for non-destructive editing, with a quick review of using layers and masks, but then diving into using the Image duplicate techniques, more mode-combining tricks, painting into layers with the brush, layer blending tricks and an awesome sharpening approach – all without ever damaging… Continue Reading

In this week’s show, we are delving further into a very powerful tool in Photoshop’s arsenal – the L*A*B color space and how to use the channels, masks and the Applied Color tool with it. Much thanks to color master Dan Margulis for alerting the world to the techniques possible using this mode. Recommended reading:… Continue Reading

In this week’s show, we are delving into a very powerful tool in Photoshop’s arsenal – the L*A*B color space and how to use the Curves adjustment layers with it. Much thanks to color master Dan Margulis for alerting the world to the techniques possible using this mode. Recommended reading: http://www.amazon.com/Photoshop-LAB-Color-Adventures-Colorspace/dp/0321356780 This is the third… Continue Reading

Photoshop – Making and Using Masks – part II This week, first we’ll cover some basics of non-destructive editing, and then we will focus on doing some masks (ways of removing parts of an image), and if I find some images I can use with a curly haired person in them, I’m showing a trick… Continue Reading

This was inspired by a friend’s need to convert several color photographs to
black and white for printing in their non-profit organization’s plain-paper newsletter, and also by the excellent book Mastering Black and White Digital Photography by Michael Freeman.
(ISBN 1-57990-707-5).

Below I’ve included the download link for the fr’ee “Color-To-B&W Pick Six” action
that converts a color image to black and white using several Photoshop techniques.

It is quite useful for quickly applying the six basic methods for
creating a Black and White image for use in printing applications. Continue Reading

This is a video taken directly from an excellent PDF found at http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com/tutorials-pdf.htm where a couple of techniques using a saturation mask are discussed: pulling back saturation in an image where only one channel was over-exposed (thus clipped or “blown out”) and a second technique to add saturation through the saturation mask to an image already possessing strongly saturated regions that would be over-done if the hue-saturation adjustment layer were applied overall.

This technique obtains its saturation mask from an HSB channel using a filter found on the first of the “Extras” disks that comes with the Adobe CS installation disks (and a similarly working plugin can be found online as well, that works on flattened duplicates only).Continue Reading

With Lewis Carroll being in my mind, as well as Dr. Seuss, several years ago in 2003, I wrote my little “Color Rhyme” below hoping to assist my students. I hope you enjoy it, and feel free to share it! (This is the latest version.)

Rather than force you over there to read that post, I am replicating it right here, as it required a few edits for clarity.

“In order to understand the relationship of LAB, RGB, and CMYK, we have to understand that the colors are actually defined in terms of one another.

Red is a primary in light.

Cyan is the pigment opponent of red. It is defined as the pigment that reflects green and blue perfectly but no red at all. So in light, cyan is composed of equal parts green and blue, but no red.

Green is a primary in light.

Magenta is the pigment opponent of green. It is defined as the pigment that reflects red and blue equally, but no green at all. So in light, magenta is composed of equal parts red and blue, but no green at all.

Blue is a primary in light.

Yellow is the pigment opponent of blue. It is defined as the pigment that reflects red and green equally, but no blue at all. So in light, yellow is composed of equal parts red and green, but no blue at all.

Given these definitions, we can see why the pairs green, magenta and blue, yellow are called opponents. There can be no green at all where there is magenta, by definition. Shine a green light on a magenta surface and you see black; nothing is reflected. Magenta is defined in terms of what it doesn’t have, namely green. Continue Reading

The other day I mentioned colors used in the
L*a*b color mode and which were opposites.

Naturally, being an ART student, you countered me (a former graphic arts college
professor, yet!) in my definition of what opposite colors were. Well, you were right…
historically speaking at least. I didn’t have time to go into it then,
recognizing it as a near universal problem when addressing color science to
those trained in the traditional ways that Art schools portray the issue.

Check this article at Wikipedia to understand what I’m referring to! Continue Reading

I’m busy working on a series of articles and videos I’ll release here soon on using the LAB mode for improving images (or L*A*B mode as some prefer to write it, myself included!)

A friend, Fred Vaughan, has agreed to allow me to use his beautiful photographs taken in Colorado and elsewhere in the western U.S. as my subjects.

Below is a sample done using just some fairly simple curves – all work being performed in the L*A*B color space!

By increasing color contrast (not merely by increasing saturation), we can bring out the natural coloration that the light presented to our eyes, and restore that which is lost by the static interpretation of the camera lens.

Before (Click image for full-screen versions – you can load both into separate tabs to A/B compare them):

And after having the curves shown beneath the image applied (Click image for full-screen version):

Note how the vibrancy of the full daylight is restored from the above version where the camera had “flattened out” the color’s dynamic range.

Watch this space for some nice full tutorials soon! But in the meantime, please try some L*A*B mode moves on your own!

I’ve used this desktop background for years! Over at http://www.hutchcolor.com/Images_and_targets.html, they’ve given public access to download many of their print-specific and monitor calibration-specific targets, images and tools. One that is a standout is their desktop background, called “CMS 30 128.JPG” (36 K – RGB) (I cannot simply provide a link to the image download due… Continue Reading

I mentioned a very prolific poster at DigitalGrin.com naming himself “rutt” (I believe John is his real name). He is a follower, as I am, of Dan Margulis. rutt has offered up his own “DanMargulisPortrait.atn” (link is often dead – see below) — a Photoshop action — in the thread of the Chapter 16 of… Continue Reading

So… I’m reading this great tutorial by rutt over at Dgrin (Digital Grin, folks!) called “B&W Conversion Workflow“, and I’m reading through it and see he has included a little Photoshop Action set. As rutt puts it: “I have an action which aides to to getting to this point. Pick it up here.” Brief and… Continue Reading

I taught at the college level three semesters deep on Photoshop alone!
However, I realize not everyone is into the same journey as I am, and would
simply like to get some results from their own photographs they’ve taken with their digital camera!

but maybe you don’t even own a copy of Photoshop. After all, it is rather
expensive! I still use Photoshop CS for everything at home and to make my
free actions and tutorials, though admittedly, at work we have CS4 installed.

There is a solution, and it is from the
remarkable optikVerve Labs, home of the FREE

which includes not only the VirtualPhotographer plugin, but additionally
works with any and all plugins that you can find using a Google search for free plugins.
It can be installed on Windows 7, Vista 32-bit, Windows XP, 2000, ME or ’98 operating systems!!! WOW!!!Continue Reading